The Mambilla Power Project, a monumental hydroelectric initiative in Nigeria, has been at the centre of controversy for over three decades.

At the heart of this ongoing $6 billion dispute are powerful figures, both in Nigeria and internationally, whose influence, business interests, and political manoeuvring have led to prolonged delays, legal battles, and rising costs.

The project was first conceived as one of the solutions to fixing Nigeria?s power woes but the road to its completion has been marked by accusations of corruption, political infighting, and international tensions.

Sunrise Power is in arbitration with Nigeria at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, France, alleging a breach of contract.

The company said it was awarded a $6 billion build, operate and transfer (BOT) contract in May 2003 by the Obasanjo administration but that the federal government repudiated the agreement.

Sunrise is asking for a compensation of $2.3 billion, claiming it had spent millions of dollars on financial and legal consultants before the contract was jettisoned.

Here is a closer look at the faces behind the Mambilla Power Project and the dispute that has left it stalled for years.

Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was in office when the project, was first awarded in 2003 to Sunrise Power and Transmission Limited.

In an interview with TheCable newspaper recently, Obasanjo said the contract for the project was fraudulently awarded without the approval of the Federal Executive Council.

?When I was president, no minister had the power to approve more than N25 million without express presidential consent. Agunloye couldn?t commit my government to a $6 billion project without my permission and I did not give him any permission,? Obasanjo told TheCable.

?If a commission of inquiry is set up today to investigate the matter, I am ready to testify. I do not even need to testify because all the records are there. I never approved it.

?When he presented his memo to the federal executive council (on May 21, 2003), I was surprised because he had previously discussed it with me and I had told him to jettison the idea, that I had other ideas on how the power sector would be restructured and funded.

?I told him as much at the council meeting and directed him to step down the memo. I find it surprising that Agunloye is now claiming he acted on behalf of Nigeria. If I knew he had issued such a letter to Sunrise, I would have sacked him as minister during my second term. He would not have spent a day longer in office.?

Olu Agunloye

Olu Agunloye, the former minister of power and steel became power minister in 2001 after the assassination of Chief Bola Ige, the first power minister under Obasanjo.

Agunloye rejected the former president?s accounts on the project, alleging that the Nigerian government was using him as a scapegoat to escape sanction for abandoning contractual agreements on the project.

He clarified the nature of the initial contract for the Mambilla Power Project, which was awarded as a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract in May 2003 under his watch.

Under this model, the contractor, Messrs Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (Sunrise), was responsible for sourcing funds and executing the project with its funds.

Agunloye is currently being prosecuted by the EFCC on seven counts of charges bordering on official corruption and fraudulent award of the $6 billion Mambilla Power Project contract.

Michael Aondoakaa

Michael Aondoakaa, former attorney general under the late president Musa Yar?Adua presided over the probe of the authenticity of 2003 BOT award of the Mambilla project ordered by President Yar?Adua in 2007.

It was he who also chaired the presidential committee which led to the re-award of the Mambilla contract to Sunrise Company under the General Project Execution Agreement (GPEA) signed by Nigeria in 2012.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari

Buhari, on his part, denied authorising the settlement agreement of 2020.

The settlement agreement was signed on behalf of the federal government by the then Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malamii, and the former Minister of Power, Sale Mamman.

?While I understood that my ministers of justice, power and water resources were approached by Sunrise and were engaging with various stakeholders that were involved in the project to resolve the issues blocking the project?s implementation, at no time did I specifically instruct them to enter into and conclude any settlement agreement with Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited,? he wrote to Fagbemi.

?Indeed, when the proposed settlement agreement and addendum were presented to me for my consideration and approval on 20th April 2020, I refused to approve the settlement deal because I was convinced that there was no basis for Sunrise?s claim.

?I hope the above clarifications will assist you in your defence of our country from these ?invisible contractors who all too often quietly take Nigeria for many millions in out-of-court settlements?, as I stated in my recent statement regarding Nigeria?s victory in the P&ID saga.?

Saleh Mamman

After several negotiations, a former Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, had, in 2020, reportedly said the parties had reached an out-of-court settlement of $200 million.

Last July, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accused Saleh Mamman, former minister of power on 12 counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering to the tune of N33.8 billion in public funds.

The former minister pleaded not guilty to the charges.

?Our investigation revealed that a huge amount of money from the project account of Mambila was sent to different entities that were not authorised on the project,? Abubakar Kweido, an operative of the EFCC said.

?We then wrote letters of investigation activities to the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation for Mambila and Zungeru hydroelectric power plant projects.

?When we analyzed the responses, we saw that over N33.8bn from the project account was sent to over 13 entities that are not the authorized contact.

Leno Adesanya

Leno Adesanya, chairman of Sunrise Power, instituted a case before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, France over the federal government?s alleged breach of contract.

Sunrise, on October 10, 2017, started the arbitration against Nigeria at the ICC, Paris, seeking a $2.354 billion award for ?breach of contract? about a 2003 agreement to construct the 3,050 megawatt plant in Mambilla, Taraba State, on a ?build, operate and transfer? basis valued at $6 billion.

Lateef Fagbemi

Lateef Fagbemi is the current attorney general and minister of justice. (BusinessDay)

Update news